April 2016

The presence of original characters in a fanfiction can alarm some readers, often those who have had bad experiences with poorly written ones before. It’s understandable to be wary, but OCs shouldn’t be immediately written off. With a writer who knows what they’re doing, a well-written OC can add new dimensions to an already fantastic story. Start with Something (or Someone) Familiar A lot of people are put off by the unfamiliar, especially in fanfiction. So, the last thing to do is to //

Beginner’s Guide to Creating Fanart is a column by contributor Jae Bailey. In this column, Jae offers digital fanart tutorials and advice for aspiring artists. Welcome back for another fanart tutorial for beginners! If you haven’t read Part 1 and Part 2 yet, go back and do that before you dive in to Part 3. In both of those articles, you can find advice on what equipment you’ll need and how to use adjustment layers to digitally color your sketches. You may wish to review //

We all know what it’s like: you write a fic, you’re proud of it, you upload it, and then… crickets. It’s discouraging when no one seems to be interested in a story we labored over and that we’re excited to share. Our first thoughts are often that we’re terrible writers, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Here are five reasons why your fanfic might not be getting any reviews—and what you can do to fix that! 1) It’s a work in progress //

On the wintery second day of 2014, moderators writcraft and mab posted an ambitious prompt on LiveJournal. They named it the “Harry Potter Big Bang,” a year-long challenge to write a novel-length fanfiction about J.K. Rowling’s infamous protagonist. In fandom, “Big Bangs” refer neither to cosmological phenomena nor mediocre CBS sitcoms, but to challenges where fans write lengthy fics over a set period of time. Big Bangs encourage collaboration with fan artists to create illustrations //

At the end of last year, I left Tumblr for good. I then deleted my account a month or so later, when I realized I was happier and more mentally well than I had been when I was spending several hours a day—most of my free time—there. For me, that was a huge shift. For a long time, Tumblr had been the only thing holding my mental health together—I went there to find validation that my feelings and experiences were real, to be reassured that I wasn’t alone, and to enjoy the media I was //

“Queerbaiting” is the practice of some television shows and movies to attract queer fans by hinting at potential queer relationships or actually promising them (but not delivering). There is some debate even amongst fans about whether queerbaiting is actually a thing. Outside of fandom, many believe queer fans are reading too much into on-screen interactions. However, writers, producers, and executives nowadays do recognize the existence of a queer fan base, and they want to appeal //

“From Beatlemania to Beliebers. Trekkies to Twihards. Behind every great success story there’s an army of fans. Most just want to show their appreciation. Some take it further to prove their dedication. But there’s an elite group who go above and beyond this: they push the boundaries and walk the line between keen interest and life-changing obsession. But why?”—Tom Felton Why obsessive fans act the way they do is the central question of Tom Felton’s documentary, Tom Felton Meets the //

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FAN/FIC is an online magazine for fanfic readers and writers. We publish compelling articles and personal essays about fan culture, practical advice on how to improve your craft, and interviews with people in the community.